I'd still like to see a wider variety of defenses implemented, such as plywood boards for windows and makeshift barricades using furniture or junk. That being said, I love the work you guys are doing and look forward to seeing more improvements made in the future.

I think the problem is that most of those suggestions are copyrighted, and including them in a commercial product might not go over well. There is a subtle reference to Bill Clinton being the President, and most of the technology is period appropriate. I don't think the devs should go overboard with the 90s imagery to make the setting feel more realistic.

Honestly I like these more than the vanilla wreck models. The current models all look like they've been firebombed (and the devs haven't really explained why). This looks far more realistic. I hope you'll add it to the Steam Workshop.

The following is a rough timeline of the events that take place during Project Zomboid. The dates and times are based on TV and radio broadcasts that occur in game. The information presented here is not 100% accurate and may be contradictory in some places.
PRE-OUTBREAK
Pre-1993
An unknown flu-like outbreak kills several people in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Spring/Summer 1993
Incumbent Kentucky governor Cal Fairweather campaigns for re-election, facing off against his Democratic opponent Mahoney.
PAWS: The Movie, starring Spiffo the Raccoon, is released in theaters.
Telephone, fax, and other lines of communication in Knox County, Kentucky are mysteriously cut off.
THE OUTBREAK
Day 1-3 (July 9, 1993-July 11, 1993)
The Knox Event begins. An influenza-type disease spreads throughout the towns of Muldraugh, West Point, March Ridge, Rosewood, and Riverside. Dozens die from fast-acting flulike symptoms over the next three days.
Deceased victims of the Knox virus begin to reanimate and attack bystanders. Panic spreads throughout the county, and local police and rescue workers are quickly overwhelmed due to lack of resources and communication.
Personnel at the nearby Fort Knox are made aware of an ongoing incident within Knox County and alert the Pentagon.
An “exclusion zone” is established around Knox County by members of the U.S. Army and the Kentucky National Guard. Checkpoints are set up at major highways in and out of Knox County. A mass civilian evacuation begins. A no-fly zone is established, prohibiting any non-military aircraft from entering the airspace of the Exclusion Zone. Military personnel, including scientists and hazmat teams, enter the Exclusion Zone.
Day 4 (July 12, 1993)
The first news reports of the Knox Event surface. Television and radio reporters descend on the border of the Exclusion Zone south of Louisville.
The evacuation continues, but an untold number of people remain trapped within the Exclusion Zone.
Day 5 (July 13, 1993)
More news teams converge on the border of the Exclusion Zone. A media camp is established at the northernmost blockade of the Zone.
LBMW Radio reports that military gunboats have begun to patrol the Ohio River.
The President meets with officials from the Centers for Disease Control.
Day 6 (July 14, 1993)
Army General John McGrew holds a press conference at the Exclusion Zone border. He confirms that there has been an outbreak of an unknown, flu-like disease within Knox County, but he assures the public that there have been no civilian casualties. He ends the press conference by stating that the no-fly zone will remain in place.
The President issues a statement to the nation, appealing for calm and affirming his faith in General McGrew and the military.
Day 7 (July 15, 1993)
Refugee camps begin popping up along the border of the Exclusion Zone. Tensions begin to rise as displaced families express their anger over the lack of clarity and available information from the military and the government.
House and Senate Republicans express outrage over the President’s handling of the Knox situation.
Reports of violence within the Exclusion Zone begin to surface.
Knox Telecommunications issues a statement taking responsibility for the communications blackout within Knox County.
Public demonstrations erupt into violence and arson in Washington DC, Detroit, and Los Angeles.
Day 8 (July 16, 1993)
The President issues a statement condemning the nationwide violence from the previous night. General McGrew issues an additional statement warning displaced families and concerned citizens along the Exclusion Zone border to disperse.
The World Health Organization orders that all commercial flights out of the United States be grounded in an attempt to contain the outbreak. The President reacts with anger, continuing to assure the public that the outbreak remains isolated within the Exclusion Zone.
International leaders condemn the President’s response to the Knox Event.
Panic buying turns into looting across the nation. Military forces are deployed to major cities in an effort to maintain law and order.
Day 9 (July 17, 1993)
The Exclusion Zone is widened. Refugee camps are moved back from the border by the military.
A demonstration in New York turns deadly. Violence rocks Miami and Missouri.
The President authorizes a nationwide curfew.
Disturbing photographs and survivor accounts are reported in the media, suggesting the situation within the Exclusion Zone is much more dire than had been reported by the government.
Several major TV and radio stations experience unexplained outages. Government intervention is suspected.
Day 10 (July 18, 1993)
The true nature of the Knox outbreak is revealed to the public, despite apparent efforts by the military to censor news journalists reporting from the border of the Exclusion Zone.
General McGrew confirms that the infection is spread via bodily fluids, and survivors claim that the infected are not sick, but are, in fact, deceased.
Day 11 (July 19, 1993)
Violence breaks out at the main border camp, resulting in the deaths of at least two civilians. The gunfire attracts a massive horde of infected, who breach the camp’s defenses and quickly overrun the military blockade. Dozens are killed by the infected or by military gunfire. The military retreats, leaving the remaining civilians to fend for themselves.
New reports indicate that the Knox virus has abruptly gone airborne, infecting individuals with no prior contact to bodily fluids of the infected.
Day 12 (July 20, 1993)
The disease spreads to Louisville, causing chaos. The Sherman Minton Bridge, Clark Memorial Bridge, John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, Big Four Bridge, and Lewis and Clark Bridge are destroyed by the military, trapping thousands within the city.
National news networks report that the disease has gone global, with reports of outbreaks in Somalia and Norfolk, England.
Day 13 (July 21, 1993)
Outbreaks of the Knox virus have been confirmed in the following cities: Louisville and the surrounding area, Kentucky. Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Norfolk, London, and Newcastle, England. Mogadishu, Somalia. Seoul, South Korea. Okinawa, Japan.
Day 14 (July 22, 1993)
The Knox virus is confirmed to have spread to the following cities: New York City, New York. Chicago, Illinois. New Orleans, Louisiana. Los Angeles, California. Berlin, Germany. Tokyo, Japan.
General John McGrew issues a pre-recorded statement to news networks, calling for those unaffected by the “second wave” of the Knox infection to take up arms against the undead threat.
Post-July 1993
Survivors from Louisville set up camp in the ruins of the Knox County border camp. They are later overrun.
A group of survivors take refuge at the National Air Guard Base in Nashville, Tennessee. They are later overrun. A second group settles into the base and rebuilds the fortifications.
A classified military radio channel begins broadcasting a mysterious coded message, consisting of seemingly random numbers that loop repeatedly.

I find it strange how there's little mention of Fort Knox in the TV and radio broadcasts in-game. However, there are mentions of secret military camps and field laboratories with scientists and hazmat teams. Maybe Fort Knox is the origin of these camps, a military hub that also serves as the front line for whatever health/biohazard group is operating within the Exclusion Zone. Maybe Fort Knox will even hold secrets about the outbreak.

I've always wanted to do a PZ machinima (at least, when the game's more developed and things such as animations come out). I figure it wouldn't be too difficult, given the text-based dialogue and isometric camera angle. But the game currently doesn't allow for much creativity when it comes to visual storytelling. I could use multiplayer but that would take a lot of time and effort, plus I have no friends who play PZ (or friends in general :P). So I think it would be cool to add a machinima mode, kinda like creative mode where you can direct and program certain events to happen, certain characters to do certain actions, etc.
Just something I thought would be neat.

Are any of these new additions going to impact performance? I haven't played in a while, and I play on an HP laptop that has been able to play zomboid decently in the past. I'm just worried that all these new additions (including the mythical anims build) might make zomboid unplayable for me

I like the addition of new defenses. Would you consider adding stuff like junk walls and barricades, or plywood boards to cover windows? They'd look like the metal sheets except made of plywood, and they'd be easier to obtain than wooden planks but are weaker.

Awesome, thanks so much blindcoder!
And I have to say there are quite a few nice looking base locations there. Take the lines of cabins at the summer camp, you wall those off and you've got yourself one hell of a fortress